


(your) destiny's found

by fandomlver, SailorSol



Category: Power Rangers Samurai
Genre: Other, POV switch, There is mention of historical rape, it's another entry in the screwed up shiba files, that's what the tag relates to, there's no actual rape during this fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-09-20 03:40:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9473756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomlver/pseuds/fandomlver, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol
Summary: With the Demon War over, Lauren and Jayden should be able to relax. But decisions made while they trained are coming back to haunt them...This fic has references to the historic rape of a then underaged character. The same character, now of age, is threated with rape again in a late chapter.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Destiny gives you the strength (to stand your ground)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5572432) by [wildforce71](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildforce71/pseuds/wildforce71). 



> This fic follows on from wildforce's Destiny; there's be a link when she gets around to making a collection. If you haven't read that one, all you really need to know is that Lauren trained under Tanba for six years, until his horrific abuses of her were discovered, and when he was removed Mia's mother stepped in instead.

Four months after the end of the Demon War, Antonio returned to the Shiba House.

He hadn’t called ahead, but Jayden wasn’t surprised to see him anyway. The others had lives to get back to, but Antonio’s life had been preparing for the War, just like Jayden and Lauren’s had been. He’d thought Antonio would probably return at some point.

Lauren was in the process of closing and selling the house she’d been raised in. She was planning to move into the Shiba House with Jayden. Ji was spending some of his time at the Tengen Gate in preparation for moving back there full time once Lauren was home and settled. Jayden would miss him, but he wouldn’t be far away, and it would be nice to have just Antonio and Lauren in the house.

They gave Antonio a bedroom, and most of his belongings stayed there, but he never stayed a night through. They were careful when Ji was in the house, but that wasn’t very often. Lauren was aware but didn’t seem to care - at least, only enough to make sure that Jayden was happy, and threaten Antonio with vague retribution if he hurt Jayden. Jayden protested that he was well able to dispense vague retribution on Antonio himself if it was needed, Antonio pointed out that he didn’t have any intention of hurting anyone, and that was all the discussion they had on the subject.

Antonio had taken it upon himself to educate the Shiba siblings in the things they’d missed as children. So they spent evenings watching children’s movies or playing board games. Mike shared video games and Emily took them both to the amusement park, where Jayden pretended he knew anything about it and Lauren indulged him solemnly. Kids’ books appeared on all the bookshelves and the music they should have listened to growing up played whenever Antonio was in the house. He was still selling from his fishing cart, supporting himself as much as possible, no matter how often Jayden told him he didn’t need to. He’d tried to interest the siblings in fishing, but neither seemed to enjoy it much and he hadn’t pushed.

Overall, things were going well. Really, Jayden should have expected something to go wrong.

It started with a letter shuffled in amongst a lot of other post. It was addressed to Jayden, and he opened it while he watched Antonio and Lauren spar, shouting encouragement to one or the other of them indiscriminately. He wasn’t paying much attention to the letter, and he skimmed over it without taking it in until his eyes snagged on the signature at the bottom. Then he stopped, reading it again more carefully.

Antonio, as always uncannily aware of Jayden’s mental state, broke off the spar to watch him. “All right?” he called across.

“It’s from Chiyoko,” he said in Japanese, aware that Antonio couldn’t keep up when he spoke at anything faster than a normal pace.

“Who’s Chiyoko?” Lauren asked blankly, and it took him a moment to realise that of course she wouldn’t know.

“Chiyoko’s my Takashi.”

Lauren shut down entirely. Jayden could see it happen. “What does she want?”

“She’s letting us know that the Elders have decided guardianship should be changed.”

He was almost sure that was the tiniest hint of panic. “Why?”

“Because they’re ours, and now it’s safe.”

“They’re not ours.”

“Lauren -”

“They’re _not_ ours.” She threw her _shinai_ to Antonio and headed inside, not quite running.

Antonio stared after her for a moment before turning to Jayden. “What was that about?”

Jayden wavered a moment. “I’ll tell you,” he said finally, “but not right now, ok? I have some things I need to sort out.”

Antonio nodded. “Sure. Anything I can do to help?”

Jayden loved him more than anything in that moment. “No. Thanks. Just be normal to Lauren.”

“I can’t promise not to be devastatingly handsome and charming,” he said solemnly.

“I think she can deal with those things.”

Antonio nodded, putting away the _shinai_. “Fair enough. Shout if you need me.” He headed inside, probably to cook. He enjoyed cooking, and it worked out well since neither of the siblings were much good at it.

Jayden stared at the letter for a long time before heading inside. He needed Ji’s help on this.

 

He meant to tell Antonio. He really did. He didn’t want to keep secrets from Antonio anyway, this one was too big to keep to himself, and he was working on a limited time scale. But dealing with Ji, with Lauren, and trying to get the supplies they’d need with only a limited idea what they actually were took up a lot of his time, and Antonio was unfailingly patient and helpful and willing to wait. It worked against him, really; if he’d pushed harder, Jayden would have had to tell him.

As it was, four days after the letter, Jayden was still trying to find time to talk to him. It wasn’t something to drop into conversation without warning; it needed time, for both of them to work through all the information, for Antonio to have whatever reaction he was going to have without fear of being interrupted. He just hadn’t managed to find that time.

And then it was too late. Someone pulled the bell at the main gate and he felt the wards flare at the presence of more Shibas, accepting their magical signatures and allowing them to pass. Slightly panicked - they shouldn’t have been here for another two days - he hurried downstairs, grateful that at least Antonio was out with his cart right now.

Lauren was frozen halfway through a kata, staring at Jayden. He shrugged helplessly at her- he hadn’t known this was happening - and went to open the gate. He could hear Lauren moving behind him, withdrawing around the side of the house so she could observe unseen. At least Takashi wasn’t going to be here. That might really have been too much for her.

He pulled open the gate and found Chiyoko waiting outside. She was carrying a young blonde girl and holding the hand of another; the child in her arms was two, he knew, but he was less sure about the other. Four? Five? He couldn’t remember exactly. She had blue eyes and curly hair, and she was studying him curiously.

He was avoiding looking at the younger one. He knew he was, but he couldn’t help himself. It was just too strange.

Chiyoko took a step forward. “The children are tired…”

“Yes, of course. I - yes. Yes, come in. I’m sorry.” He started to step back, out of their way, and then realised that she was holding the younger child out to him. Instinct kicked in and he took the little girl from her, freeing her to gather up their bags.

Her eyes were brown. He studied her, taking in the soft blonde hair, brown eyes and round face. She didn’t seem startled to have a stranger holding her, but Chiyoko was being careful to stay close, even while managing bags and the second child.

“Where is Lady Shiba?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” he answered honestly. “We didn’t think you were coming for another couple of days.”

“You were supposed to be informed when our plans changed.”

“It doesn’t really matter. I’ll need to finish making up the beds, is all.” He took what looked like the heaviest bag, leading them towards the house. He couldn’t see any sign of Lauren; she was either hiding very well or had retreated away from the garden. Either way, he seemed to be on his own for the moment.

Inside he directed Chiyoko to drop the bags near the door and led everyone to the living room. The older girl was looking around curiously, and he realised that he hadn’t cleared away most of the things he’d meant to; Ji’s relics still littered the place, balanced neatly on the various shelves and units.

“Mama, where’s this?” the older girl asked softly.

Chiyoko glanced at Jayden, all but challenging him to say anything. “It’s the Shiba House, Tiko. Remember I told you we were coming here?”

“Tiko?” Jayden said quietly.

“Oh, I remember,” she agreed.

“Good girl.” To Jayden, Chiyoko added, “Rei can’t pronounce Toshiko’s name yet.”

“Rei,” he repeated softly. He’d known her name, but somehow knowing it and connecting it to the child in his arms were two different things.

“It wasn’t my choice.” Chiyoko’s voice had sharpened.

“It wasn’t mine either. How are you, Chiyoko?”

He tried to sound as genuine as he could, and maybe it worked, because she seemed to soften again. “I’m - well looked after.”

“Yes, I suppose you are.”

“Are you the Shiba?” Toshiko asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

He smiled at her. “I’m Jayden, Toshiko. Lauren is the Shiba.” She frowned, and he prompted “What’s wrong?”

“Tiko.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I like Tiko,” she said, almost defiant.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I’ll try and remember to call you Tiko.”

Rei twisted suddenly, looking around. “Mama?” Jayden handed her over quickly and Chiyoko shushed her, talking softly.

“Is this your house?” Tiko asked, looking around.

“It -” He caught himself. “Yes. It is. Would you like me to show you around while Chiyoko takes care of Rei?”

She wrinkled her nose. “It looks boring.”

“Tiko!” Chiyoko scolded.

“Yes please Mr Jayden I would like that,” she rattled off.

“All right, then. Let’s have a look around. Maybe just down here, and we can look upstairs later.” Hopefully Lauren had retreated to her room and they wouldn’t meet her.

Tiko solemnly followed him from room to room, looking at Ji’s bedroom and office - “You shouldn’t go in there on your own, there’s a lot of very important papers in there” - and the infirmary - “Make sure not to touch any of the medicines, they might make you sick.” The weapons on the dojo walls fascinated her, and when Jayden showed her the sliding walls to the kitchen she occupied herself for several minutes pulling them forwards and backwards. Eventually Jayden persuaded her to stop by suggesting that she help him pick snacks to bring back to the others.

She chose fruit. He was a little surprised at that. He’d have chosen fruit, but there’d never been junk food in the house until the team moved in. Since Antonio had come back there was always something sweet around, but Tiko ignored it and took fruit instead. He got her a bowl and watched as she walked carefully back towards the living room, the long way around the corridor this time.

Rei was sitting on the floor, playing with a rag doll. Antonio was leaning against the wall near the front door, frowning. And there was no sign of Chiyoko at all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of rape, mentions of whoring.

Jayden glanced briefly at Antonio before crouching to Rei. “Rei, where did Mama go?” She looked towards the front door and he smiled. “Thank you. Tiko, can you help Rei eat her fruit please?”

“Where’s Mama?” she asked, picking up his unease.

“I’m sure she just went to get some air. I’ll find her. We’ll be right back.” He smiled again, keeping the expression fixed on his face as he ushered Antonio out into the garden.

“What’s going on?” Antonio demanded as soon as the door closed. “Who are they?”

“They’re our kids. Mine and Lauren’s.” Antonio blanched; realising what he’d said, Jayden amended “Rei, the younger one, is mine. Toshiko - Tiko - is Lauren’s.”

Antonio stared at him for a long moment. “That girl’s five years old.”

“Yes.”

“Lauren’s twenty one.”

“Yes.”

“Rei’s three.”

“Yes,” he said absently. He couldn’t see Chiyoko anywhere. “No. Not for a few months. October. Uh - seventeenth, I think.”

“You _think_?”

“I wasn’t exactly there holding her hand, Antonio...Chiyoko!” He took a few steps to look around the corner of the summer kitchen.

“She left.”

He looked back at Antonio. “She - what?”

“She left,” he repeated, voice flat. “Pretty Japanese lady? Crying? She left as I was coming in.”

“ _Left_?” he repeated blankly.

“She’s Rei’s mom, I guess?”

“Yeah. She’s been raising Tiko, too.”

“Tiko’s older…”

“She was always going to be Rei’s mom. They picked her a long time ago. I don’t think they were too happy when Rei turned out to be a girl, though.”

“Why do you…”

“Rei means nothing. It means zero.” He strode over to the gate, pulling it open and looking around. “Chiyoko!”

“She’s long gone, Jayden.”

“I’m asking the wards to bring her back. It might not work - she’s Shiba - but she’s not very strong, magically. I hope this will be enough.”

Antonio shook his head slowly. “Can we please start over? Explain some of this to me, because I really want to understand.”

Jayden nodded, drawing him across to a bench by the door, still in view of the gate. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you - they weren’t meant to be here for another two days…”

Antonio shook his head again. “Forget the apologies and just tell me.”

And Jayden did. He told Antonio how Lauren had been brought to meet a distant cousin at fifteen years old, again and again until she conceived. How she’d carried and born the child, who’d immediately been removed. “They needed to have a Shiba if we both fell,” he explained. How Lauren had more or less repressed the whole thing and now refused to acknowledge it at all. “I don’t think she got updates. I don’t think she cared.”

“You cared,” Antonio murmured.

“They left me alone for a long time. The others - Kevin and the others - they all have siblings, so they’re safe. I was worried about Emily when I heard Serena was ill, but she’s expected to recover, so it didn’t matter.”

“And then someone decided you needed a child too.”

“I was the Shiba. I was siblingless. I had to act the part in all ways.” He’d gone wooden, he knew it, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

“In all ways,” Antonio repeated softly.

“I didn’t sleep with her.”

He snorted. “There’s a kid inside says you’re lying.”

“I didn’t sleep with her,” he repeated. “They brought Chiyoko here - I’d never met her, only knew her name from the scrolls - and she lay down in my bed. And I nearly - I sat down, I touched her, but neither of us wanted it. It was so clear. I went to Ji and told him I refused, that there was no way I could do it, and he arranged for it to be done artificially.”

“Because that’s so much better.”

“I couldn’t get her out of it. Even the Shiba can’t overturn some things. But I could spare her an ordeal she clearly dreaded. And as the mother of the Shiba’s child she’s been well looked after.”

“Well. As long as she was paid for whoring herself to her Clan Head.”

“Antonio…” Jayden groaned.

“That’s what it sounds like to me.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry any of this happened. It wasn’t anything I wanted, and it will never happen again. Lauren and I have already talked about removing the reproduction requirement.”

“The Families will rebel.”

“My team will be the leaders of the Families before we do anything. They’re hardly likely to object.”

Antonio sighed, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “Ok. So you have these kids, and they’re hidden away in case your father’s _amazing_ plan fails and they need a four year old to pee on Xandred…”

“Something like that,” Jayden murmured.

“But why are they here now?”

“Because they don’t need to hidden away any more. And someone’s decided that it will be better for them to be raised here.”

“Here, with people who know nothing at all about raising children.”

“But everything about being the Shiba - don’t look at me like that, please. I’m on your side.”

“Oh, I really don’t think you are, Jayden. You said Lauren didn’t get updates. Did you?”

“Yes.”

“On both of them?”

“Yes. I mean - they were very vague, and they usually talked about plants, not about children. But I did get them.”

“Because you cared,” he murmured.

“Because I cared,” he agreed quietly.

“You make it very hard to be angry at you, Jayden Shiba.”

“Wait five minutes, I’m sure something else will come up.”

“Any other hidden children anywhere?”

“If I do, I don’t know about them.”

“More siblings?”

“No, we killed that one.”

Antonio winced a little. “That’s not actually as funny as you think it is.”

“No. Sorry.”

“So what happens now?”

“Well, hopefully -”

He looked up suddenly, rising to his feet. Chiyoko was standing at the gate, glaring at him.

 

“Chiyoko…”

“You couldn’t just let me leave?” she demanded. “You had to send me away? Thanks for your efforts, Chiyoko, we’re finished with you now?”

“Chiyoko…”

“Are you going to make them watch?”

“Chiyoko.”

“Be kind to them,” she whispered, and she was younger and more vulnerable in that moment than Jayden had ever seen her.

“Chiyoko,” he said patiently. “I wasn’t planning to ask you to leave.”

“Turn me out without saying anything?”

“No. I want you to stay.”

She stared at him for a long moment without speaking. “Why?” she asked finally. “I’ve done what I was supposed to…”

“They’re your daughters. I’ve no wish to separate you. I have two rooms ready - almost ready -” he corrected himself ruefully. “Upstairs. If you want another, there’s plenty. We can get you all settled.”

“Until they’re used to things here?”

“Forever. If that’s what you want. Or, at least, until Lauren comes to power and can overturn this order.”

“Lauren is the Shiba…”

“She’s the Shiba, but her council are all at least a generation older than she is. When my team comes to power, we’ll be able to change things. Until then, I’ll do my best to make things as easy for you as possible.”

“You do like things easy,” she muttered, but it was half hearted. “Who’s this?”

“Antonio.” He held out a hand to draw Antonio up beside him. “My Gold Ranger. Antonio, Chiyoko.”

“His wife,” she said wryly.

“So I hear,” Antonio agreed, just a touch cold. “It’s nice to meet you, Chiyoko.”

Chiyoko studied him for a moment, looked back at Jayden. “I see...you live here, Antonio?”

“Yes.” Still sharp, still cold. “I have done for a while now.”

“How nice for you.” She turned back to Jayden. “If you’re not sending me away, we should go back in. Tiko will be getting anxious.”

Jayden nodded, gesturing for her to go ahead. She swept in without looking at either of them.

“We’re not married,” he said softly.

“If you say so.”

“We’re not. They probably want it to happen - but for now it suits them to keep her from attaining any power.”

“The mother of your child has no power?”

“A lot less power than my wife would have.” He wanted very badly to reach for Antonio, but he wasn’t sure how well it would go over. “She isn’t ever going to be my wife, Antonio.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Lauren’s council might decide to make her.” He headed inside without letting Jayden answer.

Jayden took two breaths before going in after him.


	3. Chapter 3

They got through a meal, and sorting out the bedrooms, and getting the children fed, washed, changed, read to and settled down, and there was still no sign of Lauren. Jayden was fairly sure she was in her room, but he hadn’t had time to look.

Chiyoko settled the girls together and came out to meet him in the corridor. “They should sleep, I hope. We were up early to travel here.”

“Do you need anything else?”

“No. I think we’re all right, thank you.” She glanced along the corridor. “Am I going to meet Lady Shiba at some point?”

“Lauren,” Jayden said, careful not to stress her name, “is still trying to deal with this. I’m sure you’ll meet her tomorrow.”

“Deal with it,” Chiyoko repeated.

“She carried Tiko, Chiyoko, and her partner didn’t care about whether she wanted him to touch her or not. She was fourteen the first time they took her to a hotel and let him - he was nineteen then - she didn’t fall pregnant for another year, and her mentor kept her training up to the day she gave birth, and two days later…”

“Oh, sure,” Chiyoko agreed. “Of course they let him rape the Shiba -”

“I was the Shiba.” He kept his voice even. “Lauren was legally dead. Nine people, in all the world, knew she was alive, and none of them were likely to tell anyone. Lauren had no one to turn to, no recourse but to do as she was told. They needed a Shiba heir and they needed it quickly, because Xandred was stirring.”

“Why are you telling me this?” she snapped.

“Because I want you to understand that she is likely to withdraw, and that it’s not personal. It’s not about you. It’s not even about Tiko, really.”

“I didn’t expect Lady Shiba to deign to acknowledge us.”

“That’s not fair…”

“Is that all, my lord?”

“No, it’s not,” he said sharply. Strange to play the lord again; he hadn’t done it since the early days of the team. “Tiko calls you mama, why is that?”

“Because I haven’t told her differently. Should I go and tell her now? ‘Sorry, Tiko, I’m not really your mama. She’s here in the House, but she hasn’t looked at you yet’ ?”

“You don’t have to tell her yet -”

“ _Thank_ you, my lord!”

“- but she will have to know sometime. Does she train?”

“She dances.” Chiyoko’s face softened for a fraction of a second.

“Dances?”

“Ballet.”

“Ballet,” he echoes softly. “I would like to see that.”

“I’m not permitted to teach her symbols. I would have started her on basic fight training within the next few months, after her birthday.”

Jayden nodded. “All right. And how much does she know?”

“She knows that the Shibas fight the demons. That’s about as much as she’s taken in.”

“A good start. Thank you.”

She snorted a little. “Am I dismissed now, my lord?”

“Chiyoko,” he said, just a little warning. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“I suppose your life was awful too, my lord?”

“My life was mostly empty. I lived here with Ji after Lauren left, and I trained until my team came.”

“And Antonio? There’s no Gold Ranger.”

“Antonio found out about the mission, and he taught himself symbol power so that he could help. He’s sworn to me personally, not the Shiba family.”

“It explains a few things, anyway,” she muttered.

“Explains what?”

“Why touching me was so abhorrent to you.”

“It was never you who was abhorrent. Only the thought of forcing you when you clearly didn’t want me. I would have done the same with whatever cousin they sent to me.”

“You got your daughter anyway, I notice, without sullying yourself with me.”

“Are you sorry?” he asked gently. “You love Rei -”

“Of course I love Rei!”

“- and if you want to marry elsewhere, I will support you.”

“How can I marry elsewhere? I don’t _know_ anyone! I’ve been sequestered since I was eighteen!”

“We can work on that.”

“I don’t need you to find me a man!”

He lifted both hands, taking a step back. “We’re both tired, Chiyoko. Why don’t we have this discussion tomorrow? Or in a few days, when you’re settled in?”

“And give you time to line up your men?” she said bitterly, but she nodded, turning back towards the bedrooms.

“I’ll see you in the morning. Sleep well.”

“Good night, my lord,” she said, closing the door firmly behind her.

Jayden sighed, trying to decide whether he had the energy for both Antonio and Lauren right now, whether he should deal with one of them, or whether he should go to bed and worry about it in the morning. The third option was looking better and better all the time.

A door opened down the corridor and he straightened his shoulders, turning to look.

 

Lauren looked calm. Anyone else looking at her wouldn’t have known otherwise. But no one else looking at her would have known to look at her hands, at the way her index fingers were rubbing her thumb nails over and over again. It was the only tell Jayden had identified yet, the only way to know how she was feeling.

“They’re sleeping in Mia’s room?”

“And Emily’s. I thought it would be best for them, for now.”

“That’s fine.”

He took a careful step towards her. “Chiyoko’s angry, Lauren, because she thought we were going to take the girls and send her away. If she’s angry, if she’s cold, that’s why. Try and be patient.”

“How long is she staying here?”

“Until we can convince the council that the girls don’t need to be here.” Lauren grimaced, and he said carefully, “She’s Rei’s mother, and she’s the only mother Tiko knows - that’s not an accusation, Lauren, wait…” Lauren stopped, back stiff and straight. “We don’t know how to raise children. She does. She needs to stay at least a little while.”

“Has she trained them?”

“Rei’s not three yet. Tiko’s five. She wasn’t allowed to start symbols, but she’d planned to start fight training after her next birthday.” He smiled a little. “She says that Tiko dances. Ballet.”

“Why do you keep calling her that?”

“Rei can’t pronounce Toshiko, and she’s got used to being called it.”

“Toshiko’s a good name.”

“And she’ll grow into it. She’s only five.”

“You were five. When I left.”

“We don’t want them to grow up like us. That’s the whole point, Lauren. Rei and Tiko can be normal little girls with normal lives.”

“I don’t know how to…”

“You don’t have to. Not yet. For now you just have to try and be nice to them. Ok? Can you do that?”

Lauren smiled tiredly. “I can try.”

“Trying is enough.” He didn’t add _for now_ ; he’d handle that when it happened. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Alright. Good night, Jayden.”

“Good night, Lauren.” They hadn’t been so formal with each other in a while, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He stepped past her and headed for his room.

It was empty.

Of course it was. Antonio would be in his own room. He’d been funny and charming to the girls all evening, but he’d been little more than polite to Jayden, and his politeness hurt worse than his anger would have. Jayden changed mechanically, washing up and climbing into bed.

He’d been staring at the ceiling for a long time, counting off the minutes until he could reasonably get up and start practising, when his bedroom door slid open. He held very still as Antonio padded in, closed the door and and climbed into the bed, arranging himself carefully around Jayden.

“Antonio…”

“If you try and talk now, we’ll end up fighting again,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to fight right now. I see how hard all this is on you. Just sleep. We’ll fight tomorrow.”

“Enticing,” he muttered, but he was used to sleeping to the sound of Antonio’s breathing and it was working now, easing him closer to sleep.

He was almost asleep when Antonio started talking again, voice soft and rambling. “I know you didn't ever want any of this. I know, it wasn't really your fault. But I keep thinking of Lauren, being pushed into this. I think of _Emily_ being pushed into this. You did the best you could. I’m guessing Takashi didn’t. I don’t think Emily’s mate would. It’s so…”

“I fought for you.” Jayden’s voice was thick with sleep, and he didn’t move, afraid of scaring Antonio away. “When we were kids, and when you came back a few months ago. I fought Ji every step of the way. The only other thing I ever fought for was my right not to rape Chiyoko. You were important. You and that. Those are the only times I've ever gone against the rules. The only things that mattered enough." He propped himself up on one elbow; in the gloom he could only see the outline of Antonio’s face, couldn’t read his expression. “It will never happen again. Lauren and I have already decided. We can’t change what happened to us, but we can make sure it never happens again.”

“If I had sworn to your family instead of to you,” Antonio said thoughtfully, “they could have forced me.”

“They could have tried,” Jayden muttered. “You would have thought of a way to stop it.”

“Maybe. Probably not. Not the way you’re describing it.”

“I was younger. I was stupid.”

“You did the best you could.” Antonio touched his shoulder lightly. “Lie back down. We can fight about this tomorrow.”

He chorused ‘enticing’ at exactly the same time as Jayden, and smiled innocently when he glared.


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone got up at more or less the same time the next morning; Lauren went straight outside to practise, but Antonio stayed to help Jayden in the kitchen. Chiyoko assured him that the girls weren’t picky and had no allergies, so he went with pancakes and various jams for the first morning. Rei happily smeared jam onto every surface she could touch; Jayden’s hastily ordered high chair had turned out to be the wrong size, so Chiyoko was holding her on her lap. Tiko ate neatly, mopping at Rei’s mess between bites.

Lauren came back in halfway through the meal, hesitating almost imperceptibly before coming all the way in, helping herself to a pancake. She leaned against the counter to eat it; Jayden caught the tail end of a look passing between her and Chiyoko, but he couldn’t read it.

Tiko didn’t seem to have any problem. She glanced at Chiyoko, then at Lauren, and slid off her chair to curtsey. “Lady Shiba.”

Lauren made an abortive hand motion. “Don’t - you can call me Lauren, Toshiko.”

Tiko shifted a little. “Thank you.”

Jayden stood to put the plates into the sink, murmuring “Tiko” as he passed Lauren.

“Tiko,” she corrected herself. “Forgive me, that’s what you like to be called, isn’t it?”

“Yes’m.”

“I hear that you like to dance?”

“Yes’m.”

“Maybe you’d show me some time?”

“Yes’m.”

Rei mercifully overturned her plate. Jayden squeezed Lauren’s arm sympathetically as he went to help Chiyoko clear up. Tiko stayed standing by her seat, watching Lauren.

“I have some work to do this morning,” Lauren told Jayden.

“That’s fine. I’m sure we’ll find something to do.”

“Tiko has lessons,” Chiyoko said as she picked up the last of the mess, ignoring the groan from Tiko. “Rei and I will amuse ourselves.”

“You’re homeschooled, Tiko?” Jayden asked.

“Yessir.” Curiosity overtook her enough to prompt her to ask “Weren’t you?”

“More or less,” he murmured. “I’ll leave you to it, then, I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”

“Can I use the table in here please?”

“If that’s where you’d be comfortable, yes.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded, turning to finish clearing up.

“Want me to hang around?” Antonio murmured.

“No. Go work. We’ll be ok here.”

“Sure?”

“Bring back something good for dinner.”

Antonio nodded, accepting it, and headed out through the back to check his cart over before leaving.

“He has a job?” Chiyoko asked.

“He runs a fish stall. He catches and prepares all his own fish.”

Tiko pulled a face. “He does all the…” She made a vague gesture that Jayden interpreted as _gutting._

“Yes. His father taught him when he was young. Not quite as young as you, but young.”

“Seems odd that anyone in this house has to earn a living,” Chiyoko muttered.

“He doesn’t have to. He enjoys it. He likes being outside, and dealing with people, and having money of his own - don’t look at me like that,” he added in Japanese, banking on the girls not understanding it yet. “He could have anything he wanted from me. He likes having his own money, feeling like he’s paying his own way. It doesn’t hurt me and it makes him happy.”

“And if I wanted to get a job?” It was in English, and her tone made it clear it was a challenge.

“What kind of job would you like?” he answered unhesitatingly. “I’m sure we can find you something in town. That way you’d be nearby if anything happened.”

“Are you going to go to work, Mama?” Tiko asked.

Chiyoko held Jayden’s gaze a moment longer before looking down at Tiko, smiling. “I have to look after you, Kitten, that’s enough work for anyone. Let me get Rei tidied up and then you can start your work. Go and get your bag.”

Tiko nodded, trotting out. Jayden stood politely when Chiyoko did. “Can I help?”

“No. Thank you.” It was mostly an afterthought, but she didn’t seem angry, exactly. “I can manage. Feel free to do whatever you normally do.”

He nodded. “I’ll be around if you need anything.”

“Yeah.” She was distracted, cleaning up, and he left her to it, heading out the front to start his practise.

 

 

Tiko was watching him when he finished up some time later, sitting neatly on one of the benches. She held out a water bottle and he took it with a nod. “Thanks, Tiko. How’s your schoolwork going?”

“It’s break time,” she informed him. “Taking breaks helps me concentrate better.”

“That’s true, you shouldn’t try and do the same thing for too long.”

“You were doing that for a long time.” She waved towards the practise space.

“Yes, I suppose I was. I’ll try and remember not to in future.”

“Have you been practising that for a very long time?”

“Years and years. Since I was about your age.”

“So maybe when I’m your age I’ll be that good at dancing?”

He smiled. “I’m sure you will if you practise a lot.”

She nodded, fiddling with her fingers. Jayden let her sit for a minute or two before asking “Is something wrong?”

“No,” she said, completely unconvincingly.

“Oh, alright then.” He went back to sipping at his water, eyeing the trees near the wall to keep from looking at her. He wasn’t really sure how to deal with her; he had no experience with children, only Cody, and he’d been several years older the first time Jayden had met him.

“Mr Jayden?” Her voice was very small.

“Yes, Tiko?”

“Is Mama not really my mama?”

He frowned, turning to look at her. “Why would you think that?”

“I heard you last night. In the hall. I didn’t mean to, but you were being really loud.”

 _Shit._ “Let’s go and find Chiyoko so we can explain -”

“I don’t want her to, I want you to.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll be truthful to me.”

He grimaced, thinking back over what Chiyoko had told him. “Your m - Chiyoko told me that you know the Shiba family fights demons.”

Tiko nodded. She’d pulled her knees up to her chest. “Nightlocks.”

“Nighloks,” he corrected her gently. “Yes. The Shiba family is one of a few families who can fight them effectively, and our ancestors took an oath that we would always fight them. We’ve been doing it for a few hundred years now.”

“That’s _really_ long.”

“Yes, it is a very long time. And the way they did it for that long was to make sure that the Heads of the families always had children. At least two children.” Tiko was silent, and he continued carefully, “Lauren and I were split up when we were very small - I was only as old as you are now - and we pretended that I was the Shiba, so that she could train safely without anyone knowing about her. But she still had to have a child - that’s you. And I had to have one too, since everyone thought I was the Shiba. That’s Rei.”

“You’re Rei’s papa?”

“I am.”

“She had to have a child,” she said softly. “She didn’t want to.”

“I don’t think she wanted to,” he said quietly. “But that’s only because she was still very young then, and training really hard to fight the Nighlok. It wasn’t because she didn’t want _you_.”

“She doesn’t want me now.”

“She just doesn’t know you yet. I’m sure she will when she knows you better.”

“Really?”

“Really,” he promised.

“But I have a mama.”

“We’re not trying to take you away from Chiyoko,” he told her. “That’s why you’re all living here together. We’re hopefully going to find you somewhere you and Chiyoko and Rei can live and we can visit, and get to know you, and you can get to know us.”

“Why don’t we do that now?”

He considered for a moment, trying to decide how best to explain it. Tiko had been following along so far, but she was still very young. “Lauren’s still young, so there’s a group of people, from all the Families, who are helping her. They all thought it was a good idea if you stayed here and we got to know each other this way.”

“Who are they? Do I know them?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“How do they know what’s good for us then?”

He smiled. “That’s a very good question, and I don’t know the answer. I wish I did.”

“They’re silly people,” she decided. “We should just go home and be like we were.”

Jayden nodded. “We’re trying to make that happen, because we want you to be happy, Tiko. Maybe if you go home we could talk on the phone?”

“I can write letters,” she informed him. “I can send you letters.”

“I’d really like to get letters from you.”

“You could send me letters too.”

He cleared his throat a couple of times. “Yes, I could.”

“Do I have to tell Miss Lauren that I know?”

“Not if you don’t want to. She’ll tell you, sometime, but you don’t have to tell her before then.” He probably should have hesitated over that, he thought distantly, but what good would it do making her confess? Only make everyone even more unhappy.

“Do I have to tell Ma - Chiyoko?”

“Only if you want to,” he repeated. “She’s been your mama for all of your life. She’s taken good care of you, hasn’t she?”

“Yes…”

“Good. I’m glad.”

“She takes care of Rei too,” Tiko assured him.

“I know. She’s a good mama.”

“Yes,” Tiko said thoughtfully.

“I won’t tell anyone we talked about this, and you can decide what you want to do and let me know, ok?”

“Ok, Mr Jayden.”

“You can just call me Jayden.”

“Ok,” she repeated, a little more doubtfully.

“Now, before you go back to your schoolwork, I’d really like to see you dance. Do you think you can do that? Just a little bit?”

“Yessir.” She climbed to her feet, stretching and flexing a couple of times before starting to dance. Jayden watched her, already trying to figure out what he should do next.


	5. Chapter 5

They fell into something approaching a routine over the next few days. Lauren joined them for dinner each evening and was unfailingly polite to Chiyoko and Tiko whenever she met them during the day, but she wasn’t going out of her way to spend time with them. At least she wasn’t running away from them any more; Jayden was happy with that, for now.

Tiko kept coming to watch Jayden practise, and after a while, with Chiyoko’s permission, he started explaining what he was doing. When she showed interest, he started her on very basic moves, relating them back to her ballet training to make things easier for her. She seemed to enjoy it and they started doing it every day, just a few minutes at a time.

He was careful to spend some time with Rei, too. She enjoyed being read to or playing with blocks, and he solemnly did those things, getting to know her.

Chiyoko hovered on the edge of everything he was doing, doing her best not to interfere. Jayden made sure to include her, seeking her advice and taking over some of her chores and gradually she began to relax, more certain now that they weren’t going to send her away or separate her from the girls.

Antonio was getting on well with everyone, natural charm and friendliness serving him well. Even Chiyoko seemed to have thawed towards him, laughing and joking with him whenever they were together.

Jayden left things as they were for a while before beginning to gently push Lauren to spend more time with them. He started small; sparring sessions when he knew Tiko would be watching, or putting on movies for the kids when he knew Lauren would be around. She knew what he was doing, he was fairly sure, but she went along with it, explaining their moves to Tiko and discussing the movies with her. She and Chiyoko were a little colder with each other, but Jayden didn’t know what to do about that, so he mostly left them alone.

Antonio had been helping him out, but a couple of weeks after the girls had arrived he put his foot down. “You and I are going out for a while,” he said firmly. “You’re running yourself ragged here. Everyone will be fine for a few hours.”

“Antonio’s right,” Lauren agreed. “You should have some time off. Chiyoko and I can manage things here.”

Chiyoko raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue. “Yes. Everyone needs a break now and then, Jayden. You should go and spend some time relaxing with Antonio.”

Jayden wavered. “I don’t know…”

“I thought Tiko might like to see the park,” Lauren said levely. “She and I could go and do that this morning, and meet you two for lunch, and then Chiyoko only has to worry about Rei. What do you think, Tiko?”

“What’s in the park?” she asked uncertainly.

“They have a playground, and some nice open spaces and pretty flowers and things, and there’d be some other children to play with.”

“Oh. That sounds like fun.” She looked at Chiyoko. “May I?”

“If you’d like to,” Chiyoko agreed. “You’ll have to do your practise this afternoon, then.”

“We might be able to do it at the park,” Lauren suggested, “there’s nice open spaces, and we might find a railing if you want to do your barre work.”

“Oh. Ok then, thanks.”

“I’ll grab you some snacks,” Antonio told Lauren.

“We’ll be meeting you for lunch,” she pointed out.

“It’s always good to have a few snacks when there’s kids around. At the very worst, you can probably feed some birds.” He grinned, heading for the kitchen.

“Go and get ready, kitten,” Chiyoko said, and Tiko hurried off to her bedroom.

“Thanks,” Jayden murmured to Lauren. “I know this is hard for you.”

She shrugged. “It can’t be that bad, right?”

“No. She’s sweet.”

“Yes, I know. I am trying, Jayden.”

“I know.”

Antonio came back in with a bag, passing it over to Lauren. “Snacks, drinks, wet wipes. You should be good for a while with that.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. Tiko clattered back downstairs and she turned to look at her. “Well! Are you all ready? Coat, clothes, washed your face?”

Jayden smiled. “That was good, Lauren, well done.”

“I’ve been listening to you and Chiyoko for the last month, I had to learn something at some point. I’ll call you when we’re ready for lunch.” She took Tiko’s hand and they headed out.

“She might actually be learning,” Chiyoko murmured.

“She might,” Jayden agreed. “We’ll see you later, Chiyo. Call if you need us.”

“But don’t need us,” Antonio added cheerfully, steering Jayden out before he could argue.

 

Antonio threatened to take Jayden fishing to make him relax, but they ended up going to the movies first and then wandering around a shopping mall, window shopping. They spent some time in a furniture shop, debating some new furniture; the stuff they had wasn’t really child friendly and Jayden had been thinking vaguely about replacing it for a while now.

Eventually they started to get hungry. Jayden checked the time and was surprised that Lauren hadn’t called them yet. He called her instead, frowning when she didn’t pick up.

“She probably just didn’t hear it,” Antonio said, unruffled. “We’ll go over to the park and look for her.”

Jayden agreed, following him over, but he didn’t like it. Lauren was good about answering her phone. Apart from anything else, she didn’t really know the town very well yet and they’d had to guide her out once or twice already.

By the time they’d searched the park twice Antonio was starting to worry as well. A couple of people had seen them, but no one had noticed when they left or where they went. One woman pointed out where they’d been sitting and Jayden went to check it out, subtly casting a couple of symbols.

“What is it?” Antonio asked, watching him stiffen.

“Someone did symbol power here, and it wasn’t Lauren. Let’s get back to the house. I can do more from there.” He pulled out his phone as he stood. “Em? I need a favour.”

 

Tiko was very quiet, clinging to Lauren. Lauren kept one arm around her, watching Tanba pace and mutter to himself.

He was so small. In her memory he was tall, far taller than her. In reality he was barely up to her shoulder. Jayden would tower over him.

She spared one minute to think about Jayden, and then put him out of her mind.

“What are we doing here, Tanba?” she demanded, keeping her voice calm and level.

He spun to look at her. “What are we doing here?” he repeated. Lauren raised a questioning eyebrow and he stalked closer. Lauren automatically pushed Tiko behind herself.

“We are here for your lessons, Lauren.”

“You are not my tutor any more,” she says firmly. “Release us now.”

“Do you mean you cannot simply leave?”

“You know I can’t, your symbol chains won’t let me.”

“Then you need to learn how,” he said, as though that made any sense at all. “And the next Shiba must begin learning.”

“She’s already learning,” Lauren said tightly. “Jayden and I teach her.”

“Yes, and we see how well you have learned, don’t we.”

“You refused to teach me chains.”

“I knew you would not be able to learn them. Child! Come and show me how well you fight!”

“No,” Lauren said firmly. “You are not going near her, Tanba.”

“I am the Shiba’s tutor,” he said condescendingly. “And I _will_ teach her what she needs to know.”

“You are nothing. You were taken from that position because you were unfit. You could not even teach me to fight properly. Watanabe-san had to correct your mistakes.”

He sniffed. “Watanabe-san was not skilled enough to get through her own War unscathed.”

“Toshiko will have no war. Xandred is _dead_ , Tanba. There is no need for the Shiba anymore.”

“Shiba House must always be ready. And I intend to see that it is.” He picked up a _shinai_ from a nearby rack, throwing another in her direction; Lauren caught it automatically. A child’s version, still far too heavy for Toshiko. “Take it, child, and let’s see how well you fight.”

“Tanba, you can’t…!” Her fist tightened around the _shinai_ and she stepped forward, sliding automatically into an attack posture.

“You really don’t know anything about chains, do you?” he said, tone polite. “If you attack me, Lauren, the child will suffer for it.”

She took another step, and Toshiko suddenly cried out. Lauren spun around to find the child cradling her arm; burn scars were appearing even as she watched.

Lauren turned back to Tanba, hands clenching. “You will die for this, Tanba.”

“We will see. Child, attack me. Let’s see how well you fight.”

Sniffling, Toshiko took the _shinai_ from Lauren and stepped forward. Lauren watched, helpless.


	6. Chapter 6

Tanba refused them any first aid, citing the old excuse that ‘she must learn to function in spite of pain’, and left them in a small, bare room. The symbol power chains snaking around the walls and roof smothered Lauren’s every attempt; he must have been working on this for a long time.

She finally gave up and sat down beside Toshiko. “I’m sorry, Tiko.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t do anything to help you.” She reached gently for the child’s arm, avoiding the new bruises as she studied the burn. It looked semi-healed, so at least there was little risk of infection.

“Is he crazy?”

“I think he is a little bit crazy,” she agreed softly. She’d thought it, sometimes, but never spoken it out loud. “He was my teacher, when I was a little bit older than you are now. I didn’t know then how bad he was; I didn’t know any different.”

“How long did he be your teacher?”

“Six years,” she said quietly.

“That’s longer than I’m alive.”

“I know. But you know what? Jayden and Antonio are going to come look for us, and they’ll stop Tanba, and we’ll go right back home again.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” she said quietly. “Lie down and get some sleep, ok? He’ll probably be back soon to make you do more.”

“I don’t want to do any more. He’s mean.”

“I know. But we have to try until Jayden and Antonio get here. Lie down, now.” She urged Toshiko to lie down, pillowing her head in her lap. Lauren stroked her hair, humming half-remembered fragments of lullabies. Toshiko was silent, eventually drifting into sleep.

They didn’t get long. There weren’t any clocks in the room, of course, but Lauren was fairly sure it was only a couple of hours before Tanba was at the door again, urging them up to start training again. Toshiko went silently, without looking back.

 

Toshiko never cried. Lauren was quietly impressed. She herself had learned not to cry, but she’d had to learn. Toshiko seemed to simply know it was a good way to annoy Tanba without allowing him to retaliate openly.

She didn’t cry when they were alone, either, and after a couple of ‘training’ sessions she stopped accepting comfort from Lauren. Lauren didn’t blame her. She should have been able to get them out of here by now, but she couldn’t puzzle out Tanba’s symbol chains, couldn’t even find a starting point. She wasn’t given much time, either; although Tanba had started out focused on Toshiko, he quickly switched to train both of them at different times.

After the third session Lauren quietly told Toshiko everything she remembered from the six years she spent with Tanba in an effort to prepare her. It surely wouldn’t be long before he started blinding or deafening them and she didn’t want Toshiko going into that unprepared. Toshiko listened solemnly but didn’t speak, and Lauren couldn’t tell how much she was actually understanding.

She stood on the sidelines a little later, watching as Toshiko determinedly fought her way through a kata. She recognised the movements - Tanba had increased gravity around her - and bit her lip, mentally urging Toshiko on. She wasn’t permitted to encourage her out loud.

Tanba came to stand beside her, watching disdainfully. “Barely adequate,” he said with a sniff.

“She is five years old, Tanba. She’s more skilled now than I was at eight.” She kept her tone borderline polite; he allowed a certain amount of fight, but anything else was punishable.

“She will do until she’s no longer needed.”

Lauren froze. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t think I would allow her to remain the Shiba, did you? No, no, she’s far too unsuitable. All those years out in the world have spoiled her.”

“Jayden’s had longer…”

“Not Jayden.”

“But he’s next in line!”

“He is. For now.” Tanba’s hand slid down to caress her belly.

Only the knowledge that Toshiko would certainly pay if she moved allowed Lauren to hold still. “If that is what you’re waiting for, you’ll wait. I have no plans to bear another child.”

“Your plans are little concern of mine. A child with your power and my skill…”

“ _No_.”

He smiled. “Of course, it must be a boy, and that may take some time. We’ll work on it.”

“Tanba…!”

He turned away, conversation apparently forgotten. “Toshiko! Blade _up!_ Must I show you again? Come here!”

Lauren wrapped her arms around herself, trying very hard not to tremble.

 

She found herself unable to comfort Toshiko that evening as she usually did. Their bare little room was still bare, not so much as a blanket; Toshiko slept on Lauren’s jacket and Lauren made do with her clothes. They were filthy now, of course, but Tanba only cared because it was something else he could complain about.

The heavy gravity training had hurt Toshiko badly. Lauren soothed sore muscles as best she could with no equipment or medicines of any kind, helped her to eat as much as she could stomach, and then left her on her bed. She sat down as far away as she could, knees pulled up tight in front of her. They _had_ to leave, but she couldn’t see any way to do it; the symbol chains held them captive just as effectively as real ones would have. Everything rested on Jayden, and though she had faith in him she had no real idea how he would manage something like this. She had no idea where they were or even how long they’d been gone. Long enough for the familiar haze of semi sleep deprivation to settle in; not long enough to adjust to the severely reduced rations he expected them to survive on.

Her thoughts chased themselves for hours, long after they’d stopped making any sense, and she was edging towards numbness when something - _shifted_. Nothing she could put her finger on, nothing she could name, but something had changed around them.

Toshiko sat up, awake and silent. Lauren gestured for her to stay quiet, shifting a little so that she was between the door and the girl. There was noise outside, shouting, raised voices. She couldn’t recognise any of them.

The door burst open. Antonio, in full Ranger suit, glanced over them quickly, head cocked for a moment as he spoke through his radio before crouching. “You all right?”

Lauren nodded quickly. “Toshiko is...she’ll need care. Where’s Jayden?”

“Trying to keep Chiyo from killing Tanba. We thought you might want the honour.” He stood, offered her a hand up, and crossed to Toshiko. “I’m going to pick you up, Tiko. Tell me if anything hurts, alright?”

“You should demorph,” Lauren said absently, crossing to the door to look out. The noise was coming from the main room, and now that she knew what it was she could hear Chiyoko screaming curses at Tanba, Jayden trying to calm her down, and Tanba justifying himself loudly.

Antonio came up beside her, demorphed with Toshiko cradled in his arms. “Ready?”

Lauren nodded, stepping into the corridor. Antonio stayed at her shoulder, keeping Toshiko between them.

In the main room, Jayden had Tanba on his knees, a blade at his throat. Chiyo was shouting at him, though she wasn’t actually attacking. Tanba looked small and wounded, somehow.

Antonio followed her gaze. “Backlash from Jayden taking down his wards,” he explained quietly. “Tanba won’t be up for much for a while.”

“Good.” She stepped around him to Jayden’s side, taking the blade from him; he took a step back, watching her. “Your life is forfeit, Tanba. Do you wish to say anything?”

“You will see! You need me, Lauren!”

“Lady Shiba,” she corrected him without inflection. “Chiyoko, this man has grievously injured you. You may kill him, if you please.”

Chiyoko stared at her for a moment before shaking her head. “He’s not worth it.”

“As you wish.” Lauren raised the blade, ready to end this.

“Hey, shush, it’s ok,” Antonio murmured behind her. “You’re ok. Want to see your Mama? Look, it’s fine, right here.”

Lauren stood, frozen, listening to Toshiko whimper behind her. “Jayden. Did you take down all of his symbol chains?”

“No. I didn’t have time. Just enough to get in here. Why?”

She took a step back, lowering the blade. “If I threaten or harm him in any way, Toshiko feels pain.”

“What?” Chiyoko protested. “That shouldn’t be…”

Tanba was laughing softly. “You see, Lauren? Stop this foolishness now and let us return to training. Your brother can stay. He at least will be useful.”

“The first time I tried to fight back, Toshiko’s arm burned,” Lauren said evenly, ignoring him as best she could. “I won’t be able to stop him.”

“I’ll do it,” Jayden said, reaching for the blade. She took a step back without thinking. Her brother was not going to have blood on his hands.

“You would hurt a child?” Chiyoko asked, full of horror. “The next Shiba, your liege lord?”

“She won’t be the next Shiba for long,” Tanba said with a leer. “She’s useless. Far too soft.”

Chiyoko looked to Lauren. “What does he mean?”

“He meant to replace her,” Lauren said honestly. “He thought her unfit to be the Shiba.”

“She is five years old! How can she possibly -”

Tanba surged to his feet, diving at Antonio. Lauren pulled back automatically, unwilling to do anything the symbols might interpret as attacking, and she missed Chiyoko grabbing the blade from her hand. Antonio had turned, putting his own body between Toshiko and Tanba, and Jayden was trying to get around Lauren to them, but Chiyoko got there first, sinking the blade between two ribs in his back. Lauren automatically checked the position; Chiyoko had caught either his heart or lung. Tanba gasped in a breath, half turned shakily, and collapsed to the ground.

“Antonio.” Lauren kept her voice steady. “Don’t turn around. Take Toshiko outside, right now.” Antonio obeyed, keeping Toshiko’s face pressed against his shoulder so she didn’t see anything.

Jayden carefully took the blade away from Chiyoko, looking at Lauren for guidance. “Go outside,” she told him.

He glanced around, eyes tracking something she couldn’t see. “You don’t have long. His symbols are unwinding and the backlash will take this place down.”

“I understand. Go outside.”

He did, unwilling, stopping just outside the door to wait for them. Lauren turned to Chiyoko, staring at Tanba’s body.

“Who is he?” she asked finally.

“He was my tutor,” Lauren told her. “He was harsh, always, but not - like this. I think he’s lost his mind.”

“Harsh?”

“Cruel,” she corrected herself.

“Cruel,” Chiyoko said, almost to herself. “And was he cruel to Tiko?”

“I did my best to protect her.”

“I’m sure you did.” It was completely toneless.

“Come outside,” Lauren said quietly. “See her for yourself. I’ll answer any questions you have.”

“And him?” She hadn’t looked away from Tanba yet.

“Him?” Lauren glanced at him, then away. “Leave him here. The rats can have whatever the building leaves.”

Part of the building collapsed with a crash. Jayden called warningly from outside. Chiyoko stared thoughtfully at Tanba’s body.

Then she turned to go outside. Lauren took one breath before following her.


	7. Chapter 7

Mike met them at the gate of the House, _shinai_ in hand. Lauren frowned at him, looking at Jayden.

“I called Emily to come and watch Rei,” he explained, touching her shoulder to guide her inside. “Mike came with her.”

“Oh. That was smart.”

She caught Jayden shaking his head at Mike but didn’t bother trying to understand it. Chiyoko was carrying Toshiko, murmuring softly to her.

“What happened to her?” Jayden asked quietly.

“Most recently? He increased gravity around her and made her practise. It’s...all her muscles will be strained.” She rubbed at her arm, phantom pain shooting along it for a moment. “Warm bath might help.”

“For both of you, I think. Do you want help? I can ask Emily.”

“What?”

Jayden nodded, steering her into the house and up to her room. Lauren looked blankly around it. “How long was…”

“Almost a week. I’m sorry. We didn’t know where you were, and then the wards…”

“Not your fault.” It was automatic; she believed it, but she wasn’t sure how to get it across right now.

Jayden nodded slowly. “Alright. Have a bath. Emily’s going to come and see if you’re alright, ok? There’ll be food downstairs when you’re ready.”

“Something light,” she remembered to tell him. “We haven’t been eating much.”

“Alright,” he agreed neutrally, leaving the room.

When Emily knocked on the door a few minutes later, Lauren had managed to take her shoes off. Her belt, stiff and dirty, had so far defeated her. Emily took it in at a glance, gently pushed Lauren’s hands away and untied it herself.

“Thank you,” Lauren said, baffled when Emily kept going, matter of factly helping her undress. “You don’t have to…”

“There were other Lady Shibas, weren’t there?” Emily said, still working.

“Third Lord, Seventh Lord,” Lauren said automatically, letting Emily move her around as she pleased.

“I’m sure they had ladies’ maids. Think of me like that.” She led Lauren into the bathroom, where the bath was already half full and steaming gently. “Are you injured anywhere?”

“Bruises.” She knew how to deal with that question, at least. “A scrape…” She turned her arm to show it, a long scrape from elbow to wrist on the outside of her arm. “Nothing serious.”

“That’s going to sting when you get in,” Emily muttered, “but it’s probably better clean. Go ahead and get in. I’ll brush your hair out before I try and wash it.”

“You really don’t have -”

“I really want to,” Emily assured her, turning her back to pick up a comb and brush. Lauren stepped into the bath, easing back into the water. Emily turned on a trickle of hot to keep the temperature up and began picking out the tangles in her hair. “Sometimes when Serena was very sick I’d help her like this. I like it. It’s comforting.”

“How is she?” Lauren mumbled.

Emily laughed softly. “She’s fine. Doing better all the time.” She launched into a story about Mike and the chickens; apparently something had amused Serena a lot, but between the hot water, Emily’s voice and her hands in Lauren’s hair, Lauren was quickly sliding into a doze.

After a while Emily said apologetically, “You shouldn’t stay here too long, Lauren. Can you sit up so I can do your hair? Then you can lie down in your bed and be nice and comfortable. I changed the sheets this morning, they’re lovely and clean ready for you.”

Lauren obeyed, sitting up and tilting her head back so Emily could work water and shampoo through it. When she was finished there were warm towels, and she shuffled after Emily into the bedroom.

She halted at the sight of the bed, though. “Chiyoko will be waiting to talk to me.”

“I’m sure she’ll wait until you’re rested a bit,” Emily protested.

Lauren shook her head. “And Jayden said there’d be food. I need to dress.”

Emily protested a couple of times, but she helped Lauren get dressed and dry her hair. Lauren twisted it into a quick plait, more to keep it out of the way than for any other reason, and headed downstairs.

Antonio, Jayden and Mike were gathered in the kitchen, talking quietly. They broke off when she came in, but she kept her head up. “Where’s Chiyoko?”

“In the infirmary with Tiko and Rei,” Jayden told her. “No, you need to eat first.”

Antonio offered her a small bowl. “Tomato soup,” he told her, “and one piece of bread. Starting you off small. Look, it’s only about four spoons, I ladled it myself.”

“Thank you.” She sat, eating it as neatly as possible (Manners, Lauren! You are Lady Shiba! Must you eat like some kind of savage?) “Thank you,” she repeated when she’d finished. “It’s very good.”

“Are you alright?” Jayden asked, watching her.

“Yes, I’m not hurt. Thank you.”

Antonio looked across at him. “Didn’t you have a phone call to make? Lauren and I’ll go see Tiko. She might be asleep,” he added to Lauren, “she wasn’t far off it after her bath.”

“Did she eat something?” Lauren stood to tidy her bowl away; Mike whisked it out of her hands, grinning at her.

“She did,”Antonio agreed, taking her hand. Jayden was pulling out his phone as they left the room.

“Is Jayden alright?” she asked Antonio as they rounded the corridor. “He seems upset.”

“He’s tired,” Antonio said. “Been working hard to find you. I’ll make sure he gets some rest.”

“Please do. And you rest too. I’m sure you worked just as hard as he did.” She tapped lightly on the infirmary doors, slipping inside.

 

Tiko wasn’t sleeping.

She hadn’t spoken since their return, sat silent through her bath and food and now she lay silent while Chiyoko hummed lullabies. Rei, at least, had slept through everything, but she’d be waking soon and Chiyoko didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t abandon one of her daughters for another...

There was a knock on the door and Lauren came in.

Chiyoko kept her voice level for Tiko’s sake. “We’re busy, Lady Shiba.”

“I see that,” Lauren agreed, tone perfectly sincere. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“You can explain how this happened.”

Lauren glanced at Tiko but didn’t argue. “What did you want to know?”

“How did this happen?” Chiyoko repeated. It was becoming more of an effort to keep her voice level. Antonio shifted a little where he was leaning against the door, but he stayed silent.

“Tanba was my tutor. My father chose him. I studied under him for six years.”

“And then?”

“And then he fell ill, and my father’s team took him away. I learned from them after that. Primarily from Watanabe-Sensei.”

“You were eight?”

“When I came to him, yes. During the last battle of my father’s War. Fourteen when he left.”

“And where did he go after that?”

Lauren blinked. It was the first remotely human response Chiyoko had seen. “I’m - I don’t know. Sensei dealt with it.”

“And you left it at that?”

“She was fourteen,” Antonio said neutrally.

Chiyoko scowled at him. She liked Antonio, but she wasn’t putting up with that right now. “She was fourteen seven years ago.”

“And probably hasn’t wanted to think about him -”

“Antonio, it’s alright,” Lauren said quietly. “Chiyo, you’re right -”

“Chiyoko,” she snapped. The diminutive didn’t annoy her from Jayden, but she wasn’t going to accept it from Lauren.

“Chiyoko,” Lauren said without visible irritation, “you’re right. I should have found out where he was. I’m sorry that I didn’t.”

“How is it that you were unable to escape?”

“He used symbol chains to prevent me.”

She shook her head sharply. “I don’t know what symbol chains are. Above my education level, obviously.”

“Above everyone’s, I think. I know the vassals didn’t learn, and Tanba never taught me...think of symbols as words and chains as sentences. A symbol can be fire, or horse, or water. A chain might be _burn just this wood and nothing else,_ or _a nice gentle good natured horse,_ or _enough water to fill this glass and no more._ They’re very difficult to get right, they take a lot of power, but they can be much more accurate than just symbols on their own. And Tanba is a master. The last Chain master, although I think Jayden is starting to challenge him...Tanba used chains to keep me from using any symbol power, the doors and windows burned me when I touched them, and if I defied him then Toshiko felt pain. I saw the burns on her arm and I couldn’t do that to her again. I’m sorry.”

Chiyoko stared at her, trying to find a way to make this her fault. She was being unfair, she knew, but Tanba was far beyond her vengeance now. “I should have killed him more slowly. You said that he wanted to replace Tiko. With Jayden?”

Lauren shook her head. “With the child he planned to have me bear him.”

Antonio straightened. “ _Madre de Dios_. Lauren, really?”

“He wanted a boy.” Lauren’s voice was even, and Chiyoko felt a flicker of fear. That wasn’t normal.

“Jayden needs - Jayden doesn’t need to hear this…” Antonio seemed unsure.

“He doesn’t need to hear it,” Chiyoko said quietly. “It’s done with now. Lauren can tell him if she wants to.”

Antonio swallowed, stepping around Lauren to look her in the face. “Did Tiko know this?” Chiyoko glanced down automatically; Tiko was asleep, one hand gripping her kimono tightly.

“She wasn’t there when he spoke to me. I don’t know if he told her at another time.”

“He thought you would just accept this?” Chiyoko said.

Lauren looked over, still unnervingly blank. “He made it clear that my wishes had no bearing on the situation.”

Antonio grimaced. “Lauren needs to rest,” he told Chiyoko. “Can you wait for the rest of your questions?”

“Yes,” Chiyoko said reluctantly. Lauren was clearly not herself; there was little point in continuing. “Tiko should rest too.”

“Of course. Do you need anything?” Lauren asked.

“No.”

“Please call if you do.” She bowed a little, turning to leave the room.

Antonio lingered for a moment. “That’s going to stay between us?”

Chiyoko nodded sharply. “Get her some help.”

“We’re working on that,” he said with a sigh. “Emily’s ready to take Rei when she wakes up.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded, heading out, and Chiyoko went back to humming softly.


	8. Chapter 8

Tiko still wasn’t talking when she woke up, and she was tense and miserable. Chiyoko took her into the living room, turned the TV on low and played board games, trying to keep things as different to the way that place had looked as she could. Mike joined them, playing the games, joking and teasing Tiko. She sat silent through all of it.

When the doorbell rang Tiko went very still, hunched in on herself. Mike bounded to his feet and went to answer, just cutting off Jayden as he came from the dojo. There was some quiet conversation at the door before they came back in.

Chiyoko sat back, studying the two newcomers. Asian, clearly related, and she could sense the wind curled around them. Mia, then, Lauren’s Pink, and her - sister, mother? Chiyoko ran through the scrolls in her mind, trying to remember. Mother. The current Watanabe generation was one boy and one girl.

“Chiyoko,” Jayden said, in the gentle tone they were all using around Tiko, “this is Mia and Tamara Watanabe, Wind Samurai. Mia, Tamara, this is Chiyoko, Toshiko and Rei Shiba.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Mia said, sitting on one of the stools, not close enough to touch. “I’m sorry to hear what happened.”

“We’re all sorry to hear what happened,” Chiyoko agreed blandly. Tiko was still sitting hunched in on herself and Chiyoko rubbed her arm lightly.

“Sensei,” Lauren said from the stairs. She sounded surprised. She mustn’t have known this was happening.

“Lauren,” Tamara said politely. “How have you been?”

“Mom,” Mia protested. “Lauren, Mom wanted to come when she heard what happened.”

“What happened?” Lauren repeated softly. She seemed to focus suddenly, watching Tamara. “What happened to Tanba after he left the training house, Sensei?”

“I don’t understand…”

“Aaron and Brian took him from the training house, and you stayed with me. What happened to Tanba?”

“He went to a Clan run healing facility.”

“And when he was well? The Council knew what he had done, surely they -” Lauren stopped suddenly; Chiyoko couldn’t see Tamara’s face, so she didn’t know what she was reacting to. “The rest of the Council don’t know,” she said softly. “You didn’t tell them.”

“We didn’t tell them.”

“Why not? I know you didn’t approve.”

“Of course I didn’t approve,” Tamara said sharply. “Tanba was your father’s closest friend. That’s why you were given to him. We were afraid that if the rest of the Council knew how your father had misjudged him, it would - diminish him in their eyes. They didn’t know him as we did. We brought Tanba to some allies and told them that it was important he never escape, we gave them symbols to keep him powerless. But a few years ago they had some kind of internal revolt and he escaped.”

“And you didn’t tell me.”

“We discussed it and decided it was unnecessary. We were watching out for him, but he simply vanished. If he had come near you we would have been warned.”

“A few years ago I was still living in his house, Sensei. You didn’t think he might have left himself a way in?”

“We thought there was little risk.”

“You thought there was little risk,” she echoed softly. “I see.” She turned to leave.

“Lauren,” Mia started. Lauren gestured sharply for silence, cutting her off, and continued out of the room. Jayden cast a glance at Mike, going after her.

“Right,” Mike said into the silence. “Drinks all around, I think. Mia, let’s go.” He waved her out of the room. Tamara, looking a little lost, trailed after them.

Chiyoko pulled Tiko close. That settled it. They needed to get out of here, the sooner the better.

 

  
Chiyoko left Tiko with Mike and Mia a little later, slipping outside. Tamara was standing in the yard, looking blankly towards the bamboo. “Watanabe-sama?”

Tamara glanced back. “Mia is Lady Watanabe. I stepped aside recently.”

“Watanabe-san,” Chiyoko corrected herself. “May I speak with you?”

“Of course. How is Toshiko?”

“Silent.”

She nodded. “Lauren was very quiet, when I came to her. Afraid of punishment, I learned later.”

“That is what I wished to discuss. If you can without breaking confidences. Lauren has spoken a little about Tanba, but mostly about this time. Not about her youth.”

Tamara nodded, moving to a bench and gesturing for her to sit down. “She has little understanding of how wrong her upbringing was. Tanba trained her very well.”

Chiyoko gripped the edge of the bench. “She was remarkably undisturbed by some of the things she told me.”

“On our second day together, she asked me when I planned to punish her.”

“Punish her?”

“Her training was lacking; minor flaws Tanba did not see fit to correct. She expected punishment for it. It took me a long time, many weeks, to convince her that she should not practise on twisted ankles, with the flu, with a wrenched elbow… We practised outside for months because he had forbidden her the use of the inside dojo. She didn't even know it was there when I arrived.”

“How did he think he would not be found out?”

“Lauren did not understand. And no one ever visited; secrecy was paramount. If he had not fallen ill, we would never have found out. He would probably be her advisor now.”

“And yet he was allowed to regain his freedom.”

Tamara sighed. “That was not supposed to happen. Ji argued for forgiveness, and I was with Lauren, so I was unable to speak. Imprisonment seemed the best we could hope for.”

“Hindsight is easy, I suppose,” Chiyoko said with a sigh.

“Easiest thing in the world,” Tamara agreed. “I’m very sorry that your daughter has been caught up in this.”

“Lauren’s daughter.”

“There are mothers and there are mothers,” she said quietly. “Toshiko is yours in all the ways that matter. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t. Thank you for your time, Watanabe-san.” She stood, bowed, and headed back inside.

 

  
Antonio was cooking - best way to burn off nervous energy, he’d always found - when Chiyoko wandered in, sitting down at the bar. He flashed her a grin but kept working; he’d learned over the couple of weeks she’d been in the House that talking to her was the fastest way to get her to clam up.

“May I ask you something?” she asked after a couple of minutes.

“Sure.”

“Just between us?”

He considered that, flipping the prawn crackers. “Unless I think it’s going to hurt Jayden or Lauren.”

“I don’t believe it will.”

“Then fire ahead.”

She thought about it first, considering her words carefully. Antonio didn’t rush her. If it was this important, he could spare her the time to get it right.

“I am considering making a request to Lady Shiba,” she said finally. “And I wondered if you would give me your advice.”

“My first piece of advice is don’t call her Lady Shiba,” he told her, focused on the stir fry for a moment. “She doesn’t like it.”

“Why not?” she asked, diverted. “It is a great and mighty name with a proud history.”

“She’s proud of the history,” he agreed. “But Tanba used to call her Lady Shiba when he was telling her how useless she was, what a disgrace to her family name. Call her Lauren. She likes it better.”

Chiyoko was silent for a moment, absorbing it. “My request,” she said finally.

“Yeah. Go ahead.”

“Jayden spoke of allowing us to return home and arranging visitation. I would like to see how that plan is progressing.”

“Ah. I’m not sure that it is, yet. I mean, they haven’t ruled it out, but things have been busy here. Is there any particular reason?”

“I want to take my daughter back to the places she knows, where she might feel safe again.”

Antonio stared at the pan in front of him for a moment. “Well, if you phrase it like that, I don’t think they’ll have any objections.”

“What is your objection?”

“My -? I don’t have one.”

“You don’t like me calling her my daughter?”

“Why would that bother me? She is.”

Chiyoko was staring at him, he could feel it, but it was very important that he kept shifting the food around the pan so it didn’t burn. “They’re your daughters. That doesn’t bother me at all.”

“It doesn’t bother you that your lover has a daughter? With a woman?”

She did know, then. He hadn’t been sure; he and Jayden had tried to be restrained around her, unsure how her traditional upbringing would handle it. “We aren’t lovers. Exactly. And it bothers me a little, but only because of the way it happened. Not because it happened. Plenty of people have kids and Rei could do a lot worse than have Jay in her life.”

“You don’t approve of our traditions.”

“I don’t approve of tradition for tradition’s sake, no.”

“This has worked for us for generations.”

“And for generations the best the Shibas managed was to seal Xandred away, but Lauren and Jayden changed that. The team should have been servants, not friends, but Jayden changed that. There’s no way I should have been on the team or in his life but he changed that too. Change can be good, Chiyo.”

“Traditions can be good.”

“They can. I don’t agree with change for change’s sake, either. But the world moves on and we have to move with it.” He shook his head abruptly, turning to begin plating the stir fry. “Lauren will do her best to get you home. And her Council can’t argue anything at the moment. Ask her. She’ll get you there.”

Chiyoko was silent for a moment before saying quietly, “Thank you.” When Antonio turned around she was gone, rounding up the children to start eating.

Antonio sighed and kept working.


End file.
